going to the pantanal, has anyone been there?

well, I just booked my flight to Brazil.. my wife and I are off to the Pantanal. 10 days in september. flying into cuiaba.

this will be my 1st real attempt at serious "wildlife" photography.

If you've been there, please let me know if I could ask you some more questions. I promise to return the favor when I get back.

I'll be taking my D300, 80-400mm lens, D80, other lenses (105mm, 18-200mm, etc), batteries, laptop, extra storage drive, car charger. feel free to share any other advice on *what to bring* if you've done photo trips like this in the middle of the "wilderness".

thanks!
Scott

I'm a big fan of solar-powered chargers. I wrote a post a few months ago that should still be available. If you can't find it at NPN, email me and I'll dig it up.

I take DVDs and burn my photos to them in the field, and then pack the DVDs separately going back. I assume your kit will include a bean bag and a tripod.

I also take two camera bodies. I don't have a photo of the Grey-headed Chickadee I saw because of a camera body failure...

Scott - a few more details on your trip might help people provide feedback. Do you know how much of it will be by boat? Jungle hikes? What kind of place will you be staying in? Camping, hotel, jungle lodge, etc. Will they have power available? What types of animals are you looking to get?

I wasn't in the Pantanal, but was in central Brazil at a Jungle Lodge earlier this year (cabins in the jungle). Electricity was good, but a little sporadic, so you had to charge batteries as much as possible while it was on. I was also travelling light - just a Canon S2 IS, mini-tripod, extra flash, filters, etc. Not the greatest wildlife trip, but I'm not much of a birder. Still a terrific trip nature-wise.

The biggest problem you'll have in a lot of Amazon areas is the lack of light. Under the canopy is pretty dark, and even when you're out in the bright sun on the water, animals tend to be in the shade. Not much you can do, but maybe a Better Beamer and fast lenses (although I've never used a Beamer).

Might want to make sure you got a good way to keep things dry too - I'm assuming being the Pantanal, you'll be in a canoe (or other small boat) quite a bit.

Feel free to ask any other specific questions you have, re : clothes, sprays, batteries, etc. I don't know how much I can help, but I might be able to give some advice.

thanks Jim for suggesting the solor-powered charger...

Dave, thanks for the feedback.

the pantanal is fairly open, not thick jungle like the amazon. I'll be bringing my better-beamer just in case though. I've been in the jungle in costa-rica so I'm fairly familar with lack of light. I don't expect that to be case here though.

we'll be car-camping, so I thought a car-charger was the best idea for recharging my D300 batteries.. although I don't want to run the battery down on the car, and I don't want to run out of gas by running the car while charging. does anyone know how these car-chargers work?

we'll be camping out of the car for 7-8 nights, although a couple of those nights will be in lodges. maybe a couple boat rides for a few hours each.

I'll be photographing birds & mammals.

so I guess I'm all set with clothes, lenses. etc. I just need to look into how to keep the batteries & laptop charged in a little more detail. I'll make sure I have a couple extra batteries. good thing the D300 has a long battery life.

Scott

Well if you'll have lots of sun, and you have some cash, these Brunton Solar Rolls are reputed to be pretty good. Here's Jim's review that he mentioned. I think Thom Hogan has a similarly positive review over on his site.